Cohen: Landlords can provide credit reports

Posted
Sunday, April 21, 2019 12:05 am

By MICHAEL HINMAN

Landlords who charge prospective tenants a fee to pull their credit report may soon have to provide that credit report to the potential renter.

Councilman Andrew Cohen has joined forces with East Village councilwoman Carlina Rivera and city comptroller Scott Stringer to introduce legislation requiring any landlord who charges a fee to obtain a detailed credit report to then turn that report over.

Although anyone has the right to request free credit reports, that is limited and not as comprehensive as the ones landlords can purchase, according to a release. Providing the report could help prospective tenants find problems in their credit, giving them the opportunity to correct it.

The bill also would prohibit landlords from charging a tenant screening report fee to prospective renters unless the rental unit is actually available during the time period the renter is looking to occupy the unit.

“There are too many barriers and fees involved in the process of finding an apartment in New York City,” Cohen said, in a release. “These confusing practices disproportionately affect low-income residents.”

Engel, Dems want net neutrality back

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel joined every other Democrat and one Republican — Florida congressman Bill Posey — in the U.S. House to pass H.R. 1644, also known as the Save the Internet Act.

Although the bill is not expected to be taken up in the U.S. Senate, it was designed to restore net neutrality protections for consumers and small businesses, according to a release. Net neutrality was repealed by the Federal Communications Commission in the past year or so.

“A free and open internet is essential to American democracy,” Engel said, in a release. “Consumers should not be forced to deal with throttling of internet speeds, or tiered systems of delivery. The FCC’s decision to repeal net neutrality was anti-democratic and must be reversed by Congress.”